Why I Went From Jeans and Hoodies to Slacks and Ties
Have you ever found yourself looking back at pictures of people from the early 1900′s to about the 1950′s and thought, “man, I love the way people dressed back then”? Usually that thought is followed with a list of reasons on why you can’t dress as classically as the men and women you see in those pictures. I was definitely one of those people, but I finally decided to stop making excuses and just make some changes. So, about 4 months ago I underwent a rather life changing transformation. I stopped wearing jeans. That’s right. Let that sink in. Got it? You ok? Need a glass of water? It’s alright, I can wait.
Let me elaborate. When I say I stopped wearing jeans, I mean I stopped wearing jeans as everyday apparel. Jeans have a use and a place in every man’s wardrobe, I just decided that place didn’t need to be “the only pants I wear except khaki’s to church and weddings/funerals.”
I actually got rid of a bunch of jeans which lead to getting rid of a bunch of t-shirts and hoodies. Getting rid of the t-shirts and hoodies lead me to get rid of clothes that I couldn’t remember the last time I had worn. It was a day that will be forever referred to as The Great Closest Cleanse of 2011. Honestly, I can’t say what exactly caused this to happen. I literally woke up one morning and decided I wanted to start dressing nicer.
Some of the "victims" from the Great Closet Cleanse
While I can’t say what exactly it was that lead to this event, there are several events probably worked together to spur me on to the Great Closet Cleanse:
1. I lost 30lbs in 2011. It is amazing what going from 250+ lbs to 220 lbs will do for your self esteem. I was no longer was concerned with hiding my girth underneath layers of cotton fiber mixed clothing. This meant I bought new clothes and most of them were of a higher standard than my old wardrobe.
2. My wife’s grandmother died. A few days before Thanksgiving, my wife’s grandmother (Norma) passed away from some sudden health complications. My in-laws asked if I (an ordained minister) would be willing to officiate the services. I was moved by the request and of course accepted, but then realized that I did not own a single suit that fit. So it became apparent that I needed to get some suits.
There are some other factors that probably need to be considered in telling this tale. One of my favorite websites, artofmanliness.com, often ran articles about the importance of how a man dresses and how a lot of the old styles that use to define men’s wear had sadly gone by the wayside. After reading numerous articles on the matter, I began to wish I had the wardrobe that allowed me to dress nicer and present myself in the more classic, VINTAGE (yeah, I went there) look.
So the time had come. I had spent a small fortune on 2 suits, several new shirts, new shoes, and some new ties. As I was forking the money out for these clothes, I felt a tinge of sadness at the fact that I was spending more on these few items than I had probably spent on my entire wardrobe, yet I would only wear them a handful of times a year.
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